


This We'll Defend

by CapGirlCanuck



Series: FoxholeBros [1]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst and Feels, Family Feels, Family on the home front, Gen, Little Brothers, Marvel's Band of Brothers, Protective Older Brothers, Riley leaving for Afghanistan, Songfic, Warrior One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-08
Updated: 2018-10-08
Packaged: 2019-07-28 06:25:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16236029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CapGirlCanuck/pseuds/CapGirlCanuck
Summary: Brandon did not meet his big brother’s gaze, instead making a beeline for shotgun. Riley caught his mother’s gaze, and she tightened her lips, reddened eyes showing her strain.“Alright. Girls in the back with me,” Riley said, squeezing his sister one more time, before she stepped back.His mom held his hand the whole way to the bus stop, her head resting on his shoulder.





	This We'll Defend

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Griselda_Banks](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Griselda_Banks/gifts).



> Title: Motto of the U.S. Army  
> This was totally inspired by Dean Brody's song 'Brothers', and on this Canadian Thanksgiving I give thanks for all the men and women who have laid down their lives for my country: Canadian, British, American, or otherwise.
> 
> This is dedicated to Griselda_Banks in gratitude for her continued inspiration and encouragement. (And thanks for the series title. :)

Riley slammed the car trunk, and immediately cringed at the sound, echoing off the houses. Sheesh, he didn’t want to wake the neighborhood.

The sun wasn’t up yet, so it was still cool, and he rubbed at the goosebumps on his arms. He glanced up at the house, waiting for his family. A warm furry body pressed against his calf, and he crouched to throw his arms around the Golden’s neck. “You take care of them, Lika,” he mumbled into her neck. “Sleep with Brandon, if you can sneak past mom, anyway.”

She pawed at his leg, making happy noises in her throat, and as Riley pulled back, she flopped down and rolled over on her back. Obligingly, he buried his hands in the warm, golden hair and rubbed away.

He glanced up at the sound of the front door opening. Bella, Mom, Brandon, and last of all Dad, making sure to shut the door. Nobody locked anything in this neighborhood.

Bella looked half-asleep, still wearing her pajamas, and she came straight to him, wrapping her arms around his waist. He kissed the top of her head, then rested his cheek there; ran one hand over her long brown hair, letting his fingers tease out some tangles.

Brandon did not meet his big brother’s gaze, instead making a beeline for shotgun. Riley caught his mother’s gaze, and she tightened her lips, reddened eyes showing her strain.

“Alright. Girls in the back with me,” Riley said, squeezing his sister one more time, before she stepped back.

His mom held his hand the whole way to the bus stop, her head resting on his shoulder.

*******

Riley had hoped they would get there before the bus, but it pulled up behind them, as his dad parked at the curb.

He met the other man’s gaze in the rear-view mirror, and read it all: _I love you. I’m so proud of you. I wish you didn’t have to go. Stay safe. Fight hard. Come home. I love you._

Riley smiled, just a little, and brought his index finger to his forehead in a little salute. His dad smiled back.

Mom was already out of the car, and he climbed out to help pull his bags from the trunk. Bella was glued to his side the whole time, not letting her fistful of his sweater slip from her hand.

They greeted the bus driver ‘good morning’, who tossed Riley’s bigger duffle into the luggage compartment. Two or three other people showed up to take the bus, as well, and Riley almost resented the disturbance of the cool morning hush, he was usually running in.

And suddenly it was time.

Dad shook his eldest son’s hand, before pulling him in for a long hug. Then Mom pulled him down to kiss him and press her cheek to his.

Riley pulled back and swiped the backs of his fingers across her cheeks. “S’okay, Mom. I’ll be back before you know it.”

“I love you, son.”

“Love you too, Mom.”

Bella threw her arms around him and buried her face in his shoulder. His kissed the top of his sister’s head. “Write to me, okay?”

She sniffed, bobbed her head. “Be careful,” she mumbled.

“I’ll be back to torment you before you’ve even started missin’ me.”

She tried to glare at him, then smiled. “I already miss you.”

Riley kissed her cheek, one more time. “Miss you too, kid.”

He stepped away, looking for… “Brandon?”

All three Smiths turned to look in the direction of the car, and Riley spotted a tuft of hair sticking out from behind the back of the front passenger seat.

“Heading out, son,” came a call from the bus driver, and Riley nodded, distracted. Biting his lip, he jogged back to the car, pulled open the door, squatted down to look at his little brother.

Brandon turned his head away, slouching down like he just wanted to disappear. Swallowing hard, Riley touched his shoulder. “Pardner?”

“Just go,” Brandon said, the two frigid syllables freezing Riley’s heart.

“I’ll be back soon,” Riley whispered. “I promise.”

He waited a moment. No reply, no acknowledgement. Biting back a sigh, he stood, reaching to ruffle the boy’s hair. “See you round, Pardner.”

The bus’s horn beeped, and Riley hurried back. He slung his backpack over one shoulder, hugged mother, father, and sister all at once, waved in the direction of the car, and turned away. Climbing the steps, he pulled out his ticket to hand to the driver. As the man took it, Riley thought he heard someone yell. He glanced over his shoulder, saw his family, not looking at him.

_“Wait!”_

Turning, he stepped down to lean out the door.

“Wait! Please-!”

In a single leap, Riley was back on the sidewalk, Brandon slamming into him, making them both stagger, before Riley steadied them.

“B,–” Riley started, before he realized that Brandon was crying, and not just tears either; big heaving sobs, like fourteen-year-old boys are usually ashamed to cry.

Riley held him close, one hand on the back of his head. He still couldn’t believe how much Brandon had grown; his head reached Riley’s chest. But he was scared now, crying the way he did during thunderstorms, back when they were both small enough to fit on a single mattress.

“Don’t go. Please. You can- have my- my Peyton Manning- ball–” The words were all broken between the sobs. “I’ll do- do the- dishes on- your day, take out–”

“Shh,” Riley murmured. He started rubbing his right hand up and down Brandon’s back. “I have to go,” he said in the boy’s ear. “All my other brothers need me, too.”

“But- _I_ need you!”

“I know.” Riley pulled back, and tipped Brandon’s chin up with one finger. “And I’ll be back, I promise.”

“But, who’s gonna watch your back out there?” Brandon swiped at his tears with one hand, keeping a hard grip on Riley’s shirt with the other.

“That’s what all my other brothers are for.”

“Like Sam?”

Riley smiled. “Yeah. Like Sam. And Keegan, and Fryer, and all the rest. I take care of them, they take care of me, and we all come home. Together.”

Brandon’s blue eyes did not leave his. “Not all,” he whispered.

Riley sucked in a deep breath. “I know. But the more there are of us, looking out for each other, the more of us _will_ make it back. Okay?”

Brandon took a deep shuddering breath, and moved back in close to lay his head on Riley’s chest. “Tell me again why you gotta go?”

“’Cause. It’s what brothers do.”

That was their line, every time they ‘played at war’. “It’s not a game,” he always told Brandon. “It’s never a game. But we can still pretend.” Whether it was Captain America and the Howling Commandos in Europe, or Riley and Sam flying their Falcons at Lackland, Brandon and Riley had one pact: You fight for each other, ‘cause that’s what brother’s do.

He closed his eyes and hung on, until three other pairs of arms wrapped around them.

Riley opened his eyes, glanced at Dad.

“You’d better go, son.”

Slowly, he pulled away, one step back and then another. The four of them stood solid, holding onto each other.

A short beep from the bus’s horn and Riley turned, ran to jump up the steps, and the bus pulled away from the curb.

As he made his way to an empty seat, he caught one last glimpse of them, before the bus turned into the main street and they were lost to view.

He fell asleep for about an hour, before starting awake, when an alarm sounded.

“Sorry,” said a woman’s voice, and a nice-looking older black lady glanced apologetically across the aisle at him. “My phone.”

“S’okay,” Riley shrugged, and stretched. “Shouldn’t really be sleeping anyway.” The sun was up now, they were flying on the highway.

“Where are you headed, son?”

“Sheppard AFB, ma’am, then Germany, then Kandahar. After that, wherever they need me.” He smiled at her, then pulled out his own phone.

He selected four contacts: _Dad, Mom, Isabella, Brandon_ , and typed out three words. Sent it to all of them.

His phone chimed suddenly, just as he was putting it away.

From Sam: _Hit the ground running, brother._

Riley texted back: _You already there?_

Sam: _Just waiting on you, slowpoke._

Riley: _Be there in just under an hour._

Sam: _I’m kidding. There’s only two of us here yet._

Sam: _Family okay?_

Riley: _They will be. We do it for them._

Sam: _These things we do…_

Riley: _See you soon, pal._

Sam: _Tell them I’ll be watching your back._

Riley: _I already did._

Sam: _Cause that’s what brothers do_ :)

 

 

_Well, I may never have to face the anger of those guns_

_Or lie cold and wounded in my blood_

_Or know the sacrifice, and what it must have cost_

_For him to love me that much_

_-‘Brothers’ by Dean Brody_

**Author's Note:**

> That was the first time, the time Riley (and Sam) were able to keep their promises.  
> Hope you liked it. Feedback is always appreciated!


End file.
